Two days after a U.S. Senator asked President Joe Biden to intervene, the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to do more sampling for signs of radioactive contamination “inside and outside” the Jana Elementary School building in Greater St. Louis.
The Corps St. Louis Field Office will expand upon its earlier sampling to include soil samples and structure surveys for the entire school property near a Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) cleanup site, according to a Friday press release. The Hazelwood, Mo., Board of Education said Oct. 18 it is halting use of the school building due to the health risk posed by radioactive contamination.
The expanded sampling was to start Monday, the Corps said in the release. “Preliminary results of our testing will be available within two weeks,” the Corps said. “Additionally, we are coordinating with our partners at the Department of Energy to conduct a peer review of our work.”
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is calling for a public briefing by the agencies.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote Biden Oct. 19 seeking federal help for the “emergency situation” at the school in Florissant, Mo. The relief should be prompt cleanup of “any and all contamination” and if that’s not doable, pay for an alternative site for in-person classes, the senator said.
The school is within the floodplain for the Coldwater Creek Superfund site near the St. Louis airport. Boston Chemical Data environmental scientist Marco Kaltofen coauthored an Oct. 10 report analyzing prior Army Corps sampling data, and concluded the school exceeds health standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The primary isotope found at the school was thorium-230, according to the report, published in cooperation with the New Orleans-based Cooper Law Firm. A webpage for the firm notes it represents residents alleging radioactive contamination near the DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio.
The Army Corps has said the Boston Chemical Data report does not meet Corps standards. “We believe this community deserves a second opinion,” the Corps said in its Friday release.
